Method of charging melting tanks with glass batch and apparatus therefor



June 12, 1951 M. M. CANNON, JR

METHOD OF CHARGING MELTING TANKS WITH GLASS BATCH AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed July 25, 1946 V/ 3 H M INVENTO MADISON M. CANNON JR:

ATTQRNEYS Patented June 12, 1951 METHOD OF CHARGING MELTING TANKS WITH GLASS BATCH AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Madison M. Cannon, Jr., West Hartford, Conn., assignor to Emhart Manufacturing Company, a

corporation of Delaware Application July 23, 1946, Serial No. 685,630

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to improvements in methods of and devices for charging glass melting furnaces with glass-making materials or batch and more particularly to batch the early part of the week, it was found that by Thursday, and sometimes even Wednesday, the charging mechanism wouldlnot be rugged enough to make a full stroke.

charging methods and apparatus of the type in 5 Numerous efiorts were made to correct this which a continually replenished supply of batch condition. Air cylinders, were built into the is piled or otherwise maintained, as in a charger mechanism to develop greater force on the chamber, at a glass-making furnace of tank incharging member. Batch charger cleaning pelet through which inlet and from which pile riods were established. the batch is gradually supplied toftlt ie1 taink. t dTlie probllem was 1furtglier lnvglvgfif in that in- One form of batch charger o e ype 0 W1 ua c argers sowe up a 1 eren ra es which the present invention relates is disclosed and it was impossible to predict which charger in the U. Patent appliicaiiigonlgiflcrenapSfia: woIigd hage tlllie dfatster rat: 31f treotlardatiton.f th No. 613,09 filed Augus now a n was ha y e ermine a e r00 0 e No. 2,471,336. The batch charger chamber there trouble was the condens n furnace fille disclosed has an outlet .at its forward end from gases in the bafizlh as itllaytin thehbatgh chargflileli'. which batch may pass directly into a charging nasmuc as e com us ion 0 am er in e opening in a vertical wall of a melting furnace. furnace normally operated under a sligh y posi- The inlet of the batch charger chamberis at v (above atm sp r p sur th re was a its top and well toward its forward end so that slig t fi W d t of u g es f om the tank batch may be delivered by gravity through such thr u h the charging opening into the batch inlet to fill the charger chamber from its forr e chamb r, Water being a product of ward or outlet end to the chamber inlet so that combustion, the Steam in the fl s would conthe inlet mouth of the charging opening in the gglnse itlil thehcoldtllilatih tarfid gamgeg tthe batch, wall of the tank is always filled. I e 80 a s in e a a sor e his mois- In the form of batch charger referred to, an ture and reacted like cement in a mixture of arcuately curved charging member or pusher is eenerete- The t h e Particularly at mounted to oscillate in the batch in the ifiaig which would1 $101k litself (ilnto bamliC cglggct in the ing chamber about an axis coinci ent wi he Space aroun e 81 es an in ac o epusher, axis of curvature of the pusher. Movement of gradually hardened With Operation o the charger the pusher in the direction of the charging openand obstructed the movement of the charging ing in the tank wall forces batch in the charger m chamber through that opening into the tank. In accordance WIththe present ve tion, this The batch pusher, or comparable charging .eehdltlon h been remedied by nducing a member for related types of batch chargers, cuscounter draft into the batch. As is-now pretomarily is driven by a motor and suitable conferred, :the counter-draft was introduced into necting linkage or force transmitter so that a the batch adjacent the point where the batch re ulab force c be applied repeatedly to efenters the charging opening in the tank, and is feet positive forward and retractive oscillatory introduced at a' pressure sufficient to counteract strokes of the pusherv 40 the" flue gas pressure in the tank. It may also has f founfi h opera bedesirable to use a gaseous pressure medium tion of an installation including batch chargers whihcisweithr preheated or de humidified or of this type, the rate of feed generally becomes bdth; Y it:restraints: ass sses s of frequent intervals in order to maintain a cong g g has zfi i z fi stant charging rate. In fact, from Monday to z 5 fz a e i i chargers the following Sunday--the normal period of con- 5 :9; 3 f g' so g tinuous operation-it was common practice to am 1 uevga's e c arger make readjustments two or three times during h mP 9 by Venmatlonthereof. or by each 24 hours always in a direction to' increase bmatlon fb g the stroke rate so as to maintain the desired A f r he a v n g 5 that, lnvedditlon t charging m I preventing condensation of flue gases in the While this method of readjustment served to atchQcharge thepres'ent i ve io p events correct and maintain the charging rateduring .eehqeh eti m; i n hc batch. of m'oisture from 3 other sources, such as, for example, atmospheric air of high humidity.

Other advantages will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, arrangement of parts, and method of operation as exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims.. r

For a more complete understanding of the novel invention, reference may be had to the following specification and the accompanying drawings disclosing one embodiment. of appara; tus which is adapted to the "perforinanceof the process of the invention. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of. abatch charger including, in accordance with the invention,' a manifold for creating a draft or pressure in the charger counter to that of the glass tank charged by the batch charger; and N Fig. 2 is a top plan view taken along section 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing a portion ofthe'tank and the charger including'the manifold.

The improved batch charger shown in the'd rawings comprises a chamber I having a fiat bottom wall 2 and a pair of "straight, upstanding "parallel side Walls 3. The chamber may be open at its top, rear end and front end, and the latter may serve as the feed outlet of the chamber.

Batch is supplied by gravity to the charger chamber I from a hopper 4 through achute 5 which slopes forwardly and downwardly from the rear to 'the'forwa'rd portion of the chamber I.

As shown in Fig. 1, the'chutei "may be provided 2 thus secured, the wall portion lb f disposed edgewise against and form's a smooth continua tion of the upper portion 1a. 7

The vertical lower pcrtionlc of the transverse wall is cut away "or'a ertur'eaas at 9, Fig. "1, "to

afford clearance for an oscillating pusher; H]. 'A

gasket or packing strip l I is replace'ably secured on the front surface of the vertical wallportion 10 around the aperture"9, as by clamping means such as generallyindic'ate'd at "I 2, Fig. 1,'so"as"to project beyondthe edge of the aperture! against the side and upper surfacesof the pusher Ill. The gasket Il may be made of brake-lining or other suitable wear-resistant material.

As illustrated in Fig. ,1, the pusher .lll mayv comprise a body portionwhich is arcuately curved with its concavely curved surface uppermost. The front end wall Illa .of thepusher is adapted to contact and push a substantial amount of batch out of the chamber I. ahead of the. pusher, when the latter is moved "from its retractedfpo sition Y to its forward position (Fig; 1) on its working stroke. I V H, Oscillation ofthe pusher may'beafie'cted byfa motor (not shown) 'throughs'uitablefconnectihg Details of the batch charger thus far described and of suitable pusher operating "mechanism therefor, are illustrated and described in the aforementioned patent application of Lorenz.

When the batch charger, as thus far described. is in its operative position relative to a vertical wall l5 of a glass-making furnace or-tank, a fragmentary portion of which is indicated generally at IS, the -bottom wall 2 of the "charger is aligned with the horizontal threshold or sill [1 of a charging opening or passageway l8 through the tank wall 15. The outer portion of the wall l5, around the charging opening I8, may be cooled by a hollow water-cooled jacket I9 which, as illustrated in Fig. 1, may include the sill l1. Circulation of cooling water in the jacket 19 may be efiected'infa conventional manner, as through an inlet pipe 'I'Qa'and an outlet pipe (not shown).

The lower surface 20 of the charging passageway I8, including a portion formed by the water jacket '19, slopes inwardly and downwardly from the horizontalsill I! so as to facilitate flow of batch downwardly into the tank [6 when the batch is pushed over the sill by the pusher l0.

Glass-melting tanks, as previously indicated, arenormally operated under pressure slightly'in excess 'of atmospheric and the products of .combustion therein produced contain water which, because of the high operating temperatures employed, is in the form of steam. In order to prevent the moisture-laden"atmosphere in the tank from'pa's'sing'through the passageway 18 into the charger chamber I,'the'presentinvention provides means for establishing'in the chamber a counterpressure or draft 'which'is slightly greater than the pressure in the tank.

Preferably the counter-pressure producing means are incorporated in the forward end of the batch'charger. A preferred embodiment of the pressure 'pro'ducin'g means is illustrated in the drawing and includes a box-like manifold 2| having spaced vertical side walls 22 extending transversely of the chamber 1 and vertical end walls 23 aligned with and secured at their contiguous side and bottom 'edges,'as by welding, to the charger side walls 3. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the manifold is closed 'atitstop, as by'the wall 2la. The manifold walls 22 and 23 extend downwardly to the'level of the topof the passageway I8 and are open at their lower'edges'so'that the manifold constitutes a'forward closure for the upper portion of the charger chamber Land with thesidewa'lls3 andbottom2 ofthe chamber define a chamber outlet which matches the adjacent inlet of the passageway I8, and which is in open communication with the interior of the manifold.

A sealing strip or'gasket 24is secured to thecharger about the outlet of the 'chamber'in, conventional manner and "extends forwardly from all of the edges of the outlet. 'The'arrangement is such -that the sealing strip or gasket24, which may be made of asbestos or other suitable, compressible, heat-resistantmaterial, will be'co'mpresseda ainst the: Wal1 l5 of the tank when the batch charger is moved to the tank charging position illustrated 'inthe drawing. As there shown, thega'sket 24effectively seals thespace between the tank and charger and assures'a leakp'roofconnection of "the charger outlet "and the passageway l8.

With the described construction, a counterpressur producing medium" may be "supplied to the "manifold in regulable amount, as through the valve controlled line 25 whichmay be connected to a suitable source of theniediuminot shown) Preferably the line 25 supplies' the-pressure medium "suc'has, for example, air, 'to the upper part of the manifold and the medium is discharged by the manifold into the batch in the charger outlet therebeneath. For several reasons, including greater manifold strength and prevention of uneven distribution of the counter-pressure producing medium, the manifold preferably is provided with a cross-member 26 having a series of equally spaced holes 21 through which the air or similar gaseous pressure medium passes before it enters the batch. The member 25 may be spaced from the lower or open end of the manifold so that the batch can not work up to and fill the holes 21.

From the foregoing description of the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, the operation thereof will be readily understood. Batch may be supplied to the batch feed chamber I through the chute from any suitable source, as the hopper 4, to fill the forward portion of the batch feed chamber to the level of the outlet of the batch supply chute 5. Batch, indicated at 28 in Fig. 1, then will continuously fill the communicating feed chamber outlet and at least the adjacent portion of the tank or furnace charging opening. Each forward stroke of the pusher It] will cause a forward impulse on batch in the charging opening so that batch will be fed from the charging opening downwardly into the glass bath in the tank. The forward or working strokes of the batch pusher may be adjusted to obtain the desired batch feeding results.

At the same time, air or other gaseous medium is introduced into the batch by the manifold 2| at a pressure and in an amount preferably such as to establish the atmosphere within the charger outlet at a pressure slightly greater than the pressure within the tank 16. A draft gage 29 may be connected between the manifold and the tank, as by lines 39 and Eli respectively, to indicate the pressure differential therebetween. A fraction of an inch of water is sufiicient for satisfactory operation and is obtained in conventional manner through regulation of the valve in the control line 25.

Inasmuch as the tank will normally be operated at a pressure slightly in excess of the atmospheric pressure outside of the tank and charger, there normally will be a greater differential between the charger outlet or counter-pressure established by the manifold and the pressure outside of the charger. Therefore the major portion of the air introduced by the manifold will flow back through the batch in the chamber I under a gradually lessening pressure until it equalizes with the external atmospheric pressure. Thus while the pressure in the charger outlet provides an effective seal against flow of moisturedaden atmosphere from the tank into the batch in the charger, it does not create a large flow of the counter-pressure producing medium into the tank.

The air supplied to the manifold may be dehumidified, or preheated, or both, in any suitable known way to preclude the introduction of moisture laden air into the batch in the chamber and to remove moisture introduced with the batch into the chamber. Normally, however, these precautions are not necessary, and untreated air from a conventional blower is satisfztgctory as a supply for the valve controlled line The counter-draft of the present invention eliminates the aforementioned detrimental moisture effect in batch chargers either by preventing the infiltrations and condensation of flue gas or by ventilation or by a combination thereof.

Where the present invention is employed, the rate of batch charging can be set on Monday and no further adjustments made throughout the Week. Where multiple chargers are employed to charge a tank, the charges act the same.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used int-he following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

l. The method of charging a glass-making tank with batch which comprises feeding batch into said tank from a source of supply located outside of said tank through an opening in said tank, introducing a gas into said batch supply to create a differential in pressure between the pressure of the atmosphere within the batch being fed into the tank and the pressure of atmosphere in the batch supply exterior of the tank opening, the latter pressure being greater than said pressure within the batch being fed into the tank, said gas supplied to the batch having a lower moisture content than the atmosphere within the tank.

2. The combination with a glass melting tank wall having a batch intake opening provided therein, a batch charger operatively associated with said Wall and having a batch chamber provided with an outlet opening communicating directly with said intake opening, means to supply batch to said chamber to maintain the communicating batch intake opening and chamber outlet opening and the adjacent portion of the chamber continuously filled with batch, and means to force a gaseous fluid under a positive pressure transversely into the batch in said chamber at the outer end of said intake opening.

MADISON M. CANNON, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 473,741 Hansen Apr. 26, 1892 1,500,651 Smith July 8, 1924 1,941,897 Hiller Jan. 2, 1934 1,953,427 Moorshead Apr. 3, 1934 1,999,761 Howard Apr. 30, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 486,4?! Germany Nov. 25, 1929 

